Most small towns have a social club. Here in our neck of the woods it’s the Ladies of Bloomfield. Which obviously excludes men and wildlife.

I propose a more inclusive rural town club. I’m calling it The Super Raccoon Club.

Unlike the Ladies, we won’t conduct high tea indoors on scented tablecloths with teacups you can only slip your pinkie into.

Nope, The Super Raccoon Club will meet – always – outdoors, by the pond. So we can WASH our food in nature’s own running waters (um – more honestly, in the Donovan Fish Pond…).

The Ladies recently held a Mad Hatter Tea. Attendees sported their finest high-fashion hats.

Much in the manner of Ralph Cramden, The Super Raccoon Club will defy fashion with – of course – raccoon hats sporting long, twirlable tails.

The Ladies’ teas offer small sandwiches without crusts, finger-sized desserts, and fragile china pots of tea.

OUR teas will consist of: small fishes (whole), troughs of chili, and still waters … which shall run deep.

The Ladies’ underlying motto seems to run along the lines of being of service.

OUR motto will be “serve yourself”. As such, OUR buffets will be self-serve, all-you-can eat affairs.

The Ladies strive to clean up da town.

WE will strive to get down ‘n dirty in the garbage for those gems SOME people wantonly toss out. Since United Can Carriers comes at the crack ‘o dawn, don’t get excited if you hear a little can rustling at 5AM.

It’s just The Super Raccoon Club, doing what we do best.

There's lots of garden activity going on in the neighborhood.  Plants are leaving the nurseries in droves. I have just planted the tomatoes and bell peppers at Terra Nova Gardens. Next week the cucumbers, zucchini and corn will be planted.  My neighbor across the street from where I live at the Urban Ranch asked for some space at Terra Nova Gardens for watermelons and pumpkins.  He now has three hills of watermelons and three hills of pumpkins planted.  The rest of the open garden will be planted in sweet corn and five rows of companion planting called three sisters.  I expect most of you know what that is but for those that don't it's a combination of corn, pole beans, and vined squash planted in the same area.  The pole beans will climb up the corn and the squash will cover the ground to keep down the weeds and deter the raccoon.  The raccoons don't like stepping on the squash vines.  So I've read.  So we will see.

Here's the almost finished beds. Two more bales of straw covered the rest of the area. Once again this is not what the garden looks like. By the time I get to blog a couple days have gone by and things look much different. I guess that I really should take more pictures during the work days.

Here's the plan for this year. The grand plan has changed so many times that I couldn't tell you what issue this is. The overall plan has changed as well. I've decided to have half the garden be an open garden without a fence. Raised garden beds are great but just not for vined plants like acorn squash, watermelons, pumpkins, or sweet corn. There's a need for both. So half will be fenced and half will be open. Do turkeys like pumpkins or watermelons? I guess I'll find out.

Mean while back at the Urban Ranch, the backyard gardens have been severely neglected this year. Time in the backyard will be a must next week. The main rain water storage tank is full and I will ask my friend who has a source for unlimited plastic 55 gallon drums to snag me a couple more. I would like to continue to store up water for the backyard gardens as much as I can. Before the last rain I integrated one 55 gallon drum but it's overflowing and I had to close off the fill line for now. The dribble in the main water storage tank has all but stopped. The water loss has gone from 18 gallons a day to practically negligible. I'm not sure why but I'll except it and move on.

I have installed a water fountain in the main water storage tank. I don't want the water to become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Before too long I plan to have fish caught from the local ponds in the tank as well so a little aeration is also needed. The cover for the tank used to be part of another project from 10 years ago and has been recycled as a tank cover to keep curious neighborhood from falling in the tank and to help to prevent algae growth. This project has come a long way since that first anchor concrete block was laid for the foundation. This is third year for working on the project. Last year only a few tweaks in the watering system were needed. This year I expect it to function as well as last year. So many projects and never enough time.

That's it for this week but there's another week coming with new and exciting adventures. I better rest up today so I can get started bright and early tomorrow. I'm glad you could sit a spell and read about the antics of old Dave and his gardening experiences. Until the next time keep those garden tools sharp and working. One hour a day in the garden is better than two at the fitness center.